Development of Teacher Training Theory Emphasizing the Connection between Kindergartens and Primary Schools during the Period of Development of Kindergarten Education in the United States

The Discussion by Vandewalker

Abstract

By analyzing the author’s during the period of the development of kindergarten education in the United States, this study clarifies the characteristics of Vandewalker’s theory of teacher training, which emphasizes the kindergarten-primary school connection. The number of kindergartens in the United States increased rapidly after the 1870s, and with the spread of public school kindergartens, awareness of the connection between kindergarten and primary school increased. However, kindergarten teacher training is still centered on Froebel’s theoretical studies. Additionally, with priority given to the quantitative supply of kindergarten education, private training schools began to secure students as cheap labor through teaching practice, and kindergarten teacher training took a backseat. Considering the negative consequences of such a situation, to establish the significance of kindergarten education in the public school system as a whole, Vandewalker developed a theory of teacher training emphasizing the connection between kindergarten and primary school. First, she reduced the proportion of teaching practice and strengthened the theoretical study of educational content that spanned kindergarten and primary school. Second, by reinterpreting Froebel’s theory and adapting it to children’s diverse and changing interests, she sought to expand its scope of application to primary education. Third, she also attempted to reinterpret Froebel’s theory from an anthropological perspective, with an awareness of its relationship to Herbart’s theory. In conclusion, by emphasizing the connection between kindergarten and primary school, Vandewalker’s theory of teacher training reorganized the contents of study, which had previously been limited to kindergarten education, to include the primary grades. It also envisioned an open kindergarten education as the basis of kindergarten-primary education. At the root of this was an awareness of the problem that the theory and content of kindergarten education was viewed in isolation from that of education in other school stages.